AD didn't expect storm to follow the hurricane

Updated 12:04 am, Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Aggie Band will get well-acquainted with Cowboys Stadium since Texas A&M and Arkansas have agreed to play one another there from 2014-24.

The Aggie Band will get well-acquainted with Cowboys Stadium since Texas A&M and Arkansas have agreed to play one another there from 2014-24.

Photo: KIN MAN HUI, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

AD didn't expect storm to follow the hurricane

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COLLEGE STATION — New athletic director Eric Hyman barely had time to loosen his tie at Texas A&M before some Aggies wanted to use it as a noose this week — thanks to a big storm and Jerry Jones.

“One of the first things I've had to deal with is a hurricane,” a smiling Hyman said Wednesday. “No way in the world I would have thought something like that.”

Some Aggies are upset more effort wasn't made to reschedule the A&M-Louisiana Tech game — it was slated for tonight — for later this weekend or in a city besides Shreveport. Louisiana Tech on Tuesday postponed the former season opener to Oct. 13, an open Saturday for both teams, because of Hurricane Isaac making landfall along the Louisiana coast.

A&M will now open its season Sept. 8 against Florida in the Aggies' first Southeastern Conference game — with no warm-up against a non-conference opponent. Hyman said A&M offered up Kyle Field, but Louisiana Tech, the home team, said no thanks.

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Hyman, on the job for two weeks, then put a philosophical spin on the brouhaha for inquiring minds, if A&M would have been the home team in this situation.

“If we had a hurricane here, would we go play in Shreveport?” he said. “Probably not. If you go fishing, think like a fish. I know the passion and love and loyalty toward Texas A&M and our way of thinking, and I totally support that 100 percent. But sometimes in reality, it's a little bit different.”

Speaking of reality and angering Aggies, Hyman's department announced Wednesday that A&M and Arkansas will play in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington annually from 2014-24. The old Southwest Conference foes and new SEC rivals have played non-conference contests the last three seasons in Cowboys Stadium, all Arkansas victories. A&M plays host to the Razorbacks on Sept. 29, and the teams will meet again next year at Arkansas, before shifting back to Arlington.

“Being away from Kyle Field is disappointing for some of our fans,” A&M first-year coach Kevin Sumlin said Wednesday. “But if you're going to be away, it's hard to find a better place to play. And it guarantees us another game in-state.”

A&M president R. Bowen Loftin said Wednesday the agreement to return to Cowboys Stadium following the two seasons away was hammered out between then-athletic director Bill Byrne and Jones — the Dallas Cowboys owner — and the Aggies are honoring it.

Part of the amended contract, too, was another three years being tacked on the original agreement of 10 years if A&M and Arkansas played on their home fields this season and next, hence the 2014-24 pact, an A&M insider said. The insider assured the deal was in place long before Hyman came onboard, so love or hate the idea of playing in Cowboys Stadium, he wasn't part of that equation.

Finally, the insider said based on the new deal with Arkansas (of which Jones is an alumnus), the Razorbacks are willing to give up their regular season-ending contest with LSU so the Aggies and Tigers can meet on Thanksgiving weekend in coming years — although that's not a done deal.

“It would be fantastic for something like that to come to fruition,” Hyman said. “But there's still work to do on the football scheduling.”

And “football scheduling” is a phrase Hyman, while loosening his tie, could do without for the next few days.